February 2, 2024 is the 28th World Wetlands Day, with the theme "Wetlands and Human Wellbeing", and this year's theme highlights the link between wetlands and human well-being, and that humans draw nutrition, inspiration and resilience from wetland ecosystems to take action to protect and restore wetlands. A few days ago, the reporter interviewed Qionghai National Wetland Park.
Aerial photography of the restoration effect of the "Dream Water Town" of Qionghai Wetland, and the initial realization of the goal of ecological management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields and lakes - Photo: Ye Peng
It is reported that Qionghai National Wetland Park is located in Xichang City, Sichuan Province, less than 1 km away from the nearest urban area, and is a typical urban wetland park. Since 2009, the party committees and governments of Liangshan Prefecture and Xichang City have implemented the protection and restoration project of Qionghai Wetland, completed the rescue protection of Qionghai Wetland, restored 32 kilometers of lakeside zone, restored the lake wetland waters to the greatest extent, gradually restored the natural ecosystem, and gradually displayed the ecological functions of the wetland, making Qionghai National Wetland Park a "pearl on the plateau and a wetland in spring". It is built with the goal of protecting the urban drinking water source of Xichang and the lake wetland in the plateau depression, promoting the direction of urban transformation and development, and condensing green development, and is a model of win-win wetland protection and development.
The Qionghai Wetland Protection and Restoration Project has achieved remarkable results in the restoration of the ecological environment of the estuary, and the lakeside wetland in winter has become a paradise for birds--Photo: Yang Jun
Birds are indispensable and important members of the global ecosystem, responsible for the transport of seeds and nutrients, participate in the energy flow and inorganic matter cycle in the system, have a density-limiting effect on the prey they eat, and maintain the stability of the ecosystem. In addition, the material and spiritual benefits that birds bring to humans are incalculable. Due to Xichang's unique climatic resources and good ecological environment, Qionghai has become one of the important habitats for migratory birds in the south of the mainland, and a large number of birds spend the winter in the Qionghai wetland every year. Qionghai is not only a good place for people to experience natural customs, but also a paradise for birds to inhabit and play. With the implementation of the ecological restoration project, the ecological environment of the wetland has been gradually restored, and the population and number of wetland birds are also increasing year by year.
In order to comprehensively, timely and accurately grasp the population, distribution, conservation status and main threat factors of wintering waterbirds, and scientifically evaluate the effectiveness of bird conservation in Qionghai Wetland, in accordance with the unified deployment and arrangement of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, from January 5 to 15, 2024, the Xichang Qionghai National Wetland Park Conservation Center invited Xichang University and Xichang Bird Lovers Association to jointly carry out the "2024 National Synchronous Monitoring of Wintering Waterbirds". The investigation team is composed of Yang Jun, Li Guoxiang, Dong Wenjing, Fang Yuan from Xichang Qionghai National Wetland Park Conservation Center, Qi Dongming and Zhao Jingang from the School of Animal Science of Xichang University, Hu Yiping and Fu Dingyi from Xichang Bird Lovers Association.
According to summary statistics, from the perspective of species, 37 species of wintering waterbirds were monitored this time, and 4 species of wintering waterbirds under national second-class protection were monitored: purple waterfowl, black-necked grebe, common bustard, and white-breasted jadeite. In terms of numbers, a total of 6,745 wintering waterbirds were monitored. Among them, the number of white-headed gulls was the largest, with 2686, accounting for 39.8%, followed by red-headed gulls with 771, accounting for 11.4%.
Purple Water Pheasant - Photo: Yang Jun
According to the preliminary analysis, the species and number of birds in the Qionghai wetland have shown an overall upward trend in the past five years. By collating, verifying, and summarizing the recorded data of experts, photographers, and enthusiasts of the Qionghai Bird Loving Volunteer Team, combined with the results of this round of synchronous monitoring of waterbirds, by the end of January 2024, there were 301 species of birds in the Qionghai Basin, and the number of bird species recorded exceeded 300 for the first time. These 301 species belong to 18 orders and 69 families, including 205 species of forest birds and 96 species of waterbirds. Among them, there are 5 species under national first-class key protection, namely Baer's Pochard, Chinese merganser, painted ibis, white-tailed sea eagle and yellow-breasted bunting, and 45 species under national second-class key protection. There are 100 species of winter migratory birds in Qionghai Wetland, belonging to 12 orders and 19 families. In 2023, 5 species of birds (Yellow-breasted Bunting, Collared Owl, Great Buzzard, House Sparrow, and White-fronted Tern) will be newly monitored, including 1 species of national Ι key protected bird (Yellow-breasted Bunting) and 2 species of national Class II key protected birds.